Apple Music
Apple Music Tests Lyric Sharing Features in iOS 14.5 Beta
Apple Music has shared beta versions of iOS 14.5 with developers, who say the software update now includes several new lyric sharing related features. The iOS 13.5 update allowed for the sharing of Apple Music songs within Instagram’s Stories feature. Today, Apple Music is doubling down, allowing users to now share song lyrics from within the Apple Music app directly to Instagram and iMessage. One developer, Federico Viticci, shared his experience testing the feature on Twitter. Viticci stated that while viewing real-time lyrics of the song currently playing, one long-press on the screen allows users to select and share lyrical segments. He also discovered that sharing lyrics within iMessage additionally creates a digital card that will allow the receiver to pla...
Apple Music Rolls Out New Isgubhu Platform, Spotlighting Electronic Music in Africa
Apple Music has created a new outlet to highlight the rapidly rising dance music community in Africa. Isgubhu will spotlight a number of popular African subgenres including Gqom, Amapiano, Kwaito, Mzansi House, and Shangaan Electro. Fittingly, the term “Isgubhu” comes from a Zulu word meaning “beat.” Isgubhu will additionally host a number of playlists to assist in the music discovery process and to spotlight the continent’s power players rising to the forefront. One such playlist, “Spotlight On:” will focus upon South Africa’s burgeoning label ecosystem. Meanwhile, “Isgubhu Voices” will spotlight dance music tracks with vocal features. The playlist has debuted with South Africa’s own Black Coffee f...
How Davido, Wizkid, Olamide, Burna Boy broke streaming records in 2020
From all available statistics, facts and figures no other Nigerian musical artiste, male or female, was able to pull off what the quartet of Davido, Wizkid, Burna Boy and Olamide pulled off in 2020. The duopoly of Davido and Wizkid, which has been going on for years was questioned most especially by Burna Boy and the new face on the international scene, Olamide. Each one of them released an amazing album and it was a staggering success story on all streaming platforms. The figures showed Nigerian music has arrived on the international stage. Particularly of interest is Olamide, whose music has not really been able to cross the continent to the international stage. Well, thanks to his international connection, which has given wings to fly over the Atlantic. For Burna Boy, his fortunes have ...
Porter Robinson Opens Up About Overcoming Depression to Produce “Nurture”
In a new interview with Anna Lunoe on her danceXL Apple Music radio show, Porter Robinson opened up about the origins of Nurture, his highly anticipated sophomore album. “The album came after a real kind of emotional and creative low point for me, where I just was genuinely feeling like I was not capable of making music anymore. I was just extremely stuck,” Robinson lamented. “I was really, really depressed. I was feeling a lot of pressure and was really unhappy with everything that I was coming up with.” The very first time he listened to Nurture in full, Robinson said he found himself focusing on each and every sonic element he deemed a mistake, viewing his first album in seven years “through the most negative lens possible.R...
Martin Garrix Releases ID-Filled Tomorrowland NYE Mix on Apple Music
Although most of us weren’t able to check out a concert or drunkenly stumble around the city spend quality time with our friends for New Year’s Eve, plenty of artists and organizers hosted virtual events to provide a safe way to celebrate. One notable event came from the festival giant Tomorrowland. Those who might have missed the broadcast are in luck after Dutch superstar Martin Garrix‘s entire set was uploaded to Apple Music. Running just over an hour, the mix is made up entirely of Garrix’s originals, remixes, collaborations, and tracks from his STMPD RCRDS label. Some may remember that earlier in the month, it was revealed that the mix included 10 IDs. Fortunately, seven of those tracks are included in the Apple Music recording and can be l...
Apple Music’s Africa Strategy Is Starting to Pay Off
“Africa has birthed a lot of special talents that have been creating amazing music for a long time and we’re happy to finally have the platforms and the means to share our music across the continent and to the rest of the world,” Tems tells Billboard. “[The Africa Rising program] allowed my music to reach new listeners and [has] also given my supporters and myself something to be excited about in these tough times.” ALL EYES ON AFRICA Over the past several years, labels, distributors and industry trade groups have turned their focus towards the African music market, and Apple Music is not the only streaming service making inroads on the continent, or supporting its local artists. (Tems, for example, was also included as part of the latest class of YouTube’s Foundry program, whi...
Stretch And Bobbito Celebrate MF DOOM’s Legacy On Apple Music
Source: C Brandon / Getty Fans are still waving the Daniel Dumile flag weeks after his untimely death was confirmed. Two radio pioneers celebrated the late great MC’s career with a thoughtful and in-depth program. Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito The Barber reunited on one of the biggest digital streaming platforms to host a memorable MF Doom tribute show. On Thursday, January 7 the legendary on air duo broadcasted for two hours in honor of their comrade. Garcia specifically played a large role in the Super Villain’s early years by signing him in the 1990’s to his now defunct Fondle ‘Em Records. The result was several single releases that help defined Metal Face’s iconic persona. “DOOM’s style, at times, was very basement demo-esque, and that was deliberate, and it was brilliant,” Bobbito exp...
Kick 2020 to the Curb With Madeon’s New Year’s Eve DJ Mix
Just days after the release of his chills-inducing acoustic performance, Madeon is back with another mix. To help send one of the worst years of our collective lives packing, he released a New Year’s Eve 2021 DJ mix on Apple Music. With close to 50 songs packed into just over 60 minutes of music, fans of nearly every genre will be satisfied with the French electronic music star’s choices. While we won’t be able to enjoy NYE like years past, at least the music will still be as good as ever. Seeing as it’s a DJ mix and not one of his trademark live performances, the holiday offering is primarily filled with music from other artists. All is not lost for super-fans, though, as they will still be able to hear original works such as “The Prince,” “...
Apple Music Ends 2020 With Exclusive DJ Mixes from 21 of Electronic Music’s Biggest Acts
This year, Apple Music has expanded its curation efforts with the addition of DJ mixes on its streaming platform. The move saw Apple Music begin to incorporate everything from live sets, such as Tiësto‘s socially-distanced 2020 Red Rocks Amphitheater performance, to pre-recorded mixes in their “One Mix” series. Now, Apple Music is rounding out 2020 in spectacular fashion with 21 exclusively curated DJ mixes from some of the biggest names in electronic music. Carl Cox, Madeon, Charlotte de Witte, CamelPhat, The Blessed Madonna, Honey Dijon, RÜFÜS DU SOL, and Dixon are just a handful of the artists who have contributed to the year-end festivities. The mixes serve as an hourlong showcase of each artist’s releases and favorite select...
Zedd Curates Exclusive DJ Mix of Apple Music’s Biggest Songs of 2020
There is perhaps no EDM artist more ideal than Zedd, one of the genre’s true hit-makers, to curate a list of Apple Music‘s biggest songs of 2020. Zedd has teamed up with the streaming giant for an exclusive DJ mix that covers not only the most popular songs in dance music from this year, but also the contemporary music scene at large. There is something for everyone here, as Zedd has chosen tracks that aren’t rooted in EDM, such as Machine Gun Kelly and blackbear‘s “my ex’s best friend,” Lil Baby‘s “Woah,” and Justin Bieber and Chance The Rapper‘s chart-topping single “Holy.”. However, dance music is of course well-represented with selections such as “Breaking Me” by Topic and...
South Africans can Pay for Apple Services with Telkom
Telkom has revealed that its customers will now be able to pay for Apple content and services – like App Store apps, Apple Music, Apple TV+, movies on the Apple TV app, Apple Arcade, and iCloud storage – via carrier billing, directly from their mobile phone account. The service will be available to all Telkom customers in South Africa for postpaid and prepaid mobile plans. Using the service is simple. Telkom customers use a new or existing Apple ID and select “Mobile Phone” as their payment method in account settings on the App Store, in iCloud or within the Apple Music or Apple TV apps from their iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or on iTunes from their PC. The new payment option will be configured automatically and immediately allows for one-tap purchasing from any Apple product. Telkom Sout...
Roddy Ricch Dominates Apple Music’s Year-End Charts
As the year’s top album on Apple Music, Ricch’s Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial additionally spawned three more tracks that earned placement on the service’s top songs of 2020 chart: “High Fashion”, “Start Wit Me” and “Bacc Seat.” Ricch was additionally featured on the fourth most-streamed song of 2020, DaBaby’s “ROCKSTAR.” The year’s second most-streamed song on Apple Music, “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd, had an even broader reach than “The Box” worldwide, charting in the top 5 on Apple Music’s Top 100 songs charts in 92 countries and reaching No. 1 in 62 of them. While “Blinding Lights” had fewer streams than “The Box,” it racked up the most listeners overall. One notable facet of Apple Music’s end-of-year charts this year is the inclusion of two new...
